Breaking News Greatest Loss of Life on an American Ship since the MV George Prince

[Deleted member 1]

Nothing is more terrifying or horrifying than fire on the waters.

As the fog lifted on Monday at 2 p.m., at least three vessels were at sea in the vicinity of the doomed dive boat, a compact stretch of ocean a few hundred yards long and wide in a cove at the northernmost end of Santa Cruz Island.

They included a gray salvage ship with a large crane extended over the side where an aluminum skiff was anchored in relatively calm and clear seas with 1-foot swell.

The smaller craft, which had raised a red and white striped flag indicating that there were divers in the water, occasionally lifted anchor and motored to shore.


It was impossible to know, however, if it was ferrying bodies retrieved by divers to the custody of coroner officials.

Nearby, a Coast Guard cutter sliced through the water, warding off all non-rescue boat traffic with its intimidating size and a no-nonsense warning over the radio: “The captain has extended the security zone to 1 mile.”

Authorities have search the island’s shoreline for possible survivors. But they have also found some victims at the bottom of the ocean.

At least eight are dead, with more than two dozen still missing.

The Conception, a 75-foot dive boat with a crew of five and thirty-four passengers bunked below in open berths, burned out in the California Channel Islands last night. "God help the ones asleep below and cannot the find the way", to quote Gordon Lightfoot on the Yarmouth Castle.

So far the Coast Guard is insisting that the first bodies recovered had signs of drowning, but with two emergency escapes which both opened on the galley as the most likely place the fire started (she burned to the waterline and then sank), there is little chance of survivors.

At this point, the prospective death toll exceeds both the El Faro and the Edmund Fitzgerald as well as the less-well known Carl D. Bradley. It would in fact be the worst loss of life to fire on an American flagged vessel since the SS Yarmouth Castle burned and sank in 1965 with the loss of 90 souls; to provide the haunting song:



However, the less well-known George Prince took 78 lives in 1976, but as a result of a collision:

The MV George Prince disaster.

Since the chance of finding any survivors is more or less nonexistence, this stands to be unambiguously the worst loss of life at sea under the American flag since 1976.

 

[ShadowArxxy]

This one really strikes home for me; my family's summer timeshare is in that exact area and I've been actively looking at diving boat charters as something in the near future. . .

 

[Isem]

Has anything come out about what caused the fire to break out?

 

[Deleted member 1]

Unfortunately at this time the Coast Guard have confirmed that all 34 souls missing are believed dead, with 20 bodies recovered, 6 identified and the hope of finding the rest alive lost.

 

[Sea Skimmer]

Well, not surprising, at an early point the lack of survivors was pretty alarming. Really bad situation, but frankly, we get lucky a lot in the modern maritime world and this sounds an awful lot likely its going to come back to something stupid, like a bad fitting on a gas pipe.

 

[Deleted member 1]

Well, not surprising, at an early point the lack of survivors was pretty alarming. Really bad situation, but frankly, we get lucky a lot in the modern maritime world and this sounds an awful lot likely its going to come back to something stupid, like a bad fitting on a gas pipe.

That's exactly my thought. And it's hard to say if the complexity of providing escape trunks on vessels of this type would really be justified. Nevermind the issue of requiring retrofits or not.

 

[Edgeplay_cgo]

I saw an interview this morning, with the boat owner that included a recording of half the Mayday call - the USCG half. Why they don't have a recording of both sides, beats the hell outta me. The language about being locked below, the lack of an escape hatch, and the lack of firefighting equipment, all came from that recording. We have no idea what the distress call actually said. The owner, of course, denies the allegations, but admitted the passengers may not have known about the after escape hatch. Yesterday, at a press briefing, the USCG Captain stated that the boat had passed all her inspections. The CG is death on lack of firefighting equipment. It is damnear a keelhauling offense.

I'm sensing a vapor explosion in the bilge, but the boat was Diesel powered.

They recovered some 20 bodies on Monday, although they aren't sure of the exact number. Some must be in pieces. They said they saw four to six more in the wreckage, which they have probably addressed today. They are searching out relatives to obtain reference DNA.

The crew is berthed on the upper deck, which is why they were able to escape. The dead crew member was below decks.

The divers are operating in 65 feet of water.

 

[Deleted member 1]

I'm sensing a vapor explosion in the bilge, but the boat was Diesel powered.

My understanding is that the galley used propane and that there was a series of secondary explosions; I wonder if an improper seal on a propane line led to conditions, since we all know they exist with propane, where it concentrated in the bilge, followed by tanks of propane and then fuel going off.

 

[Edgeplay_cgo]

My understanding is that the galley used propane and that there was a series of secondary explosions; I wonder if an improper seal on a propane line led to conditions, since we all know they exist with propane, where it concentrated in the bilge, followed by tanks of propane and then fuel going off.

That is the most reasonable hypothesis I've heard so far.

 

[Deleted member 1]

That is the most reasonable hypothesis I've heard so far.

Unfortunately I deal with a lot of hazmat in my day job.

 

[Edgeplay_cgo]

What do you do? If you don't mind.

I'm a retired Civil Injunear and retired mold and bio remediator.

 

[Vargas Fan]

None of those are as bad as the sinking of the MV Princess Victoria in 1953, though the storm of that night was responsible for many lives lost, the Victoria was the single largest loss, especially considering it was on a relatively short journey of 20 miles, but in the Irish Sea which can be deceptively rough.

MV Princess Victoria (1946) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Edgeplay_cgo]

The latest reports have 34 / 35 victims recovered, with efforts underway to locate the last person. Statements by one of the crew, was that he was awakened by a loud pop. They charge the lithium batteries for the dive lights in the galley. By the time he got to the galley, the fire was too big to fight. I'm still suspecting a bilge explosion due to propane fumes. I suspect there was a leak somewhere.

 

[Deleted member]

@Edgeplay_cgo they are now saying there was no propane onboard. It really is possible that Lithium batteries were the cause and the secondary explosions were the additional large number of Lithium batteries continuing to cook off as the fire spread from the first. I believe we are continuously underestimating the fire risk from them because of the drive to use them as much as possible due to their energy density. Being on airplanes that's always the thing that makes me most nervous, someone ignoring the regulations and slipping those batteries into their checked luggage and it not being found out. Especially with the courtesy planeside bag check.

 

[Deleted member]

NTSB report on the Conception

The preliminary NTSB report has been issued. The entire crew was asleep in violation of fire-watch regulations. They also separately issued a notice about charging batteries.

 

[Darth Robbhi]

NTSB report on the Conception

The preliminary NTSB report has been issued. The entire crew was asleep in violation of fire-watch regulations. They also separately issued a notice about charging batteries.

Did the passengers even wake up? If they didn't, the escape hatch issue may be moot.

 

[Deleted member]

Did the passengers even wake up? If they didn't, the escape hatch issue may be moot.

The official answer is that they died of smoke inhalation without waking up, but the initial bodies found showed evidence of drowning, which was quickly clamped down on in the news reports. Those were the ones recovered outside of the vessel. I really think it best to just ... For the sake of the families, not ask too many questions about the possibly that severely burned people managed to escape just to be too injured to swim. I hope our Merciful Mother not.

 

[Darth Robbhi]

The official answer is that they died of smoke inhalation without waking up, but the initial bodies found showed evidence of drowning, which was quickly clamped down on in the news reports. Those were the ones recovered outside of the vessel. I really think it best to just ... For the sake of the families, not ask too many questions about the possibly that severely burned people managed to escape just to be too injured to swim. I hope our Merciful Mother not.

Yes and no. I fully understand not hurting the families. But I also don't want other people to die because we didn't properly address identified faults.

 

[Deleted member]

I grant the point. Hopefully the early reports were simply wrong. I do question not doing autopsies, however.

 

[Darth Robbhi]

I grant the point. Hopefully the early reports were simply wrong.

Amen to that.

I do question not doing autopsies, however.

Agreed, though it may be Monday morning quarterbacking. Santa Barbara County's pathologist (the coroner is the sheriff) seems satisfied with external examinations, and, honestly, Santa Barbara may not have the resources to do 34 autopsies in a timely manner.